STANDING on a truck crate, Joseph Mannolini grabbed his phone, hit record and started filming at the Nullarbor roadhouse.
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Several other Western Australian truck drivers were also parked up at the rest stop - ready to continue their sheep and cattle carting journey further east.
"Nullarbor roadhouse, livestock everywhere," Mr Mannolini said in the video, while scanning the area.
It was 2020 and the Kojonup livestock carrier, based south-east of Perth, had joined his father on a job trucking sheep across the dusty red road from WA to South Australia.
Earlier in the day boredom struck and he started watching agriculture-related Tik Tok videos to pass the time.
"I had been watching content from other truckies and farmers and thought I'd give it a crack," Mr Mannolini said.
"So, I jumped up on the crate of my truck and started filming all the sheep and cattle trucks."
When I uploaded the video to Tik Tok I didn't think it would get any likes or anything."
It wasn't long before Mr Mannolini realised he was wrong.
A trip to unload sheep at Nundroo and back to the WA-South Australian border later, the 15 second clip had racked up more than 500 likes and 10,000 views.
"I wasn't expecting it at all," Mr Mannolini laughed.
"The main aim of the video was to educate people about the industry.
"People share misinformation all the time on Tik Tok, so I jump on there, answer any questions, tell them the facts and bust any myths."
Today, a couple of thousand views for a Tik Tok video is more common than not for Mr Mannolini, who has amassed more than 4500 followers and 66.8k likes.
On his platform @joeyscaniaman, he shares a glimpse of what livestock carrier life is like in Australia.
Despite only being a truck driver for the past two years, it is something which has been a part of his life for as long as he can remember.
"Dad has been trucking ever since I was born," Mr Mannolini said.
"I remember travelling with him in the truck about 23 years ago, as a three-year-old."
Last year, the Mannolinis branched out to start their own trucking business, Mannolini Rural Transport.
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They operate out of Kojonup and truck sheep and cattle from feedlotters to the likes of WA Meat Marketing Co-operative, Harvey Beef and Western Meat Packers.
"A typical day for me with abattoir work involves waking up at 6am to get to where the sheep are at by 7am," Mr Mannolini said.
"In summer I start at 5.30am, load up the sheep and take them to the abattoir to unload them.
"Sometimes I do four to five loads in a day.
"I've also taken sheep across the Nullarbor to holding yards at Nundroo and also to the Fremantle port for live export."
Mr Mannolini has only recently realised his love for livestock transporting, previously carting tippers and lime.
It was during one trip, where he started loading sheep onto the truck and penning them off inside the crate, that he thought - I could do this.
Last spring, he carted about four loads of lambs a week, including plenty of suckers and new season lambs.
"Personally, I enjoyed the fact I wasn't sitting in the cab the entire time," Mr Mannolini said.
"Plus I love working with animals - you aren't on one journey all of the time and there are so many elements to the job.
"I get to see so many different places from the Wheatbelt, to Kojonup and across to Dowerin, and meet so many different people.
"I love it."
